Amazon.com announced earlier this week that it has launched an online grocery business through Quidsi, an online retailer the company purchased last year for $545 million. The website is Soap.com, which sells “everyday essentials” and currently has about 7,000 grocery products. According to Quidsi, the number of grocery products will increase to 10,000 in a couple weeks.
Groceries are delivered in one to two days, and shipping is free for orders over $39. By comparison, Peopod, Giant’s online grocery service that recently expanded into the Philadelphia market (Peapod by Giant online grocery shopping to serve Greater Philly), offers next day delivery with fees starting at $9.95 for a $60 minimum order. Peapod’s fees decrease as the order size gets larger.
Quidsi also runs diapers.com (baby-care), BeautyBar.com (cosmetics), Wag.com (pet care) and YoYo.com (toys).